Media companies such as UTV, Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) and Denis O'Brien's Communicorp should provide the €6.3 million needed annually to fund the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), a Government commissioned report has concluded. Emmet Oliver reports.
The report from Dutch consultants Ox Associates has been passed to the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, and his officials for consideration. The report looks at the licensing regime for local radio in the State.
The authors suggest it might be fairer to fund the BCI via an industry levy rather than direct Government grant. This is how the Commission on Energy Regulation (CER) and the Commission for Aviation Regulation operate.
SRH, UTV and Communicorp are among the largest radio groups in the State and any levy is likely to fall most heavily on them. SRH, which owns Today FM, is trying to buy Dublin station FM 104 for €30 million.
UTV owns Lite FM, Limerick's Live 95 FM and Cork's 96 & 103 FM. Communicorp has shares in Newstalk 106, 98 FM, Spin FM and East Coast Radio.
Various mechanisms could be used to apply the levy. It could be based on the annual profits of stations or on their share of the radio market. All the commercial bodies regulated by the BCI might be liable for the levy, including television service TV3.
The BCI licences one national radio service, Today FM, and 48 regional radio stations, although not all of these are commercial.
The BCI is due to replaced within the next year by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). The BAI will have responsibility for regulating RTÉ, which is currently the responsibility of the RTÉ Authority. It is possible the Government will ask the industry to fund the BAI, sources said last night.
Speaking a few months ago, Mr Ahern said the Ox review came "at an important juncture in the development of radio licensing in Ireland".
"It will serve to provide a vision for Irish radio broadcasting policy and consider the processes through which licences are awarded," he said.
"Local radio in Ireland has been a great success story. The sector has developed beyond all expectations. The people of Ireland have been offered a new alternative. Local radio has provided a new form of high-quality programming that is of relevance to local communities."
OX is a Netherlands-based consultancy group, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rabobank Group.
Mr Ahern has strongly rejected suggestions that there should be more political control over licensing decisions.
"I am specifically ruling out the possibility of any increased political involvement in the licensing process," he told the Dail in late 2003.
